Saturday, 28 December 2013

The London Loop

Erith → Jubilee Country Park

foots-cray-church.png Distance: 14.75 miles
Ascent: 171 metres
Duration: 5 hours 5 minutes

Bexley, Bromley
« Not walked | Not walked »

The London Outer Orbital Path ("Loop") is the outermost of three circular walking routes promoted by Walk London. We've previously walked the Jubilee Walkway and the Capital Ring so at last it's time to tackle the big one: all 140 miles of it. By the time we've finished we'll have passed through most of the London boroughs on one of these three routes.

thames-erith.pngToday's leg took us from the south bank of the Thames in Erith to the mouth of the River Cray, which we followed almost all the way to its source.

jolly-farmers.pngMany of the route descriptions for the walk navigate by pubs, but today almost without exception we found boarded-up hostelries, faded signs hanging forlornly from rusting brackets. It's not an encouraging sight.

More encouraging were the babbling brooks flowing through public parks (surely the "park" is one of London's greatest contributors to culture), serene churchyards and unexpected gems like the open gardens at Hall Place.

petts-wood.pngBack to the present, the recent high winds have brought down fences and trees in places, and the rain has waterlogged playing fields and paths. We had to divert more than once to find our way around although particularly along the final stretch of the day — between the tall trees of Pett's Wood — nothing was deterring the large numbers of families walking off their seasonal overindulgences.

Posted by pab at 21:47 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!